Jim Carrey Biography

Jim Carrey (born on January 17, 1962) is an
actor, comedian, writer and producer from Newmarket,
Ontario, Canada.

Biography

A born comedian, Jim Carrey mailed his resume to The
Carol Burnett Show when he was 10 years old. The
teachers in Carrey's high school gave him a few minutes
at the end of each school day to do a stand-up routine
for his classmates.

The Jim Carrey family fell on hard times and were
forced to move to Scarborough, a Toronto suburb, where
they took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan
Wheels factory. Carrey began working eight-hour shifts
each day after school. Eventually, the Carrey family
escaped life at Titan by living on a relative's lawn out
of the family Volkswagen van until they could move back
downtown.

Jim Carrey dropped out of high school, and began to
work in comedy clubs and develop his act, which included
impersonations of celebrities such as Michael Landon and
James Stewart. In 1979 he moved to Los Angeles and
started working in The Comedy Store, where he was
noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield
liked Carrey's act so much that he signed Carrey up to
open Dangerfield's tour performances.

Jim Carrey began to work occasionally in television
and small parts in movies, which eventually led to a
friendship with Damon Wayans. Wayans's brother, Keenen
Ivory Wayans, was in the process of putting together a
sketch comedy show for Fox called In Living Color, and
hired Carrey to be a cast member. Carrey's unusual
characters and on-screen behavior caught America's
attention.

Jim Carrey's first starring role in a film was in Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). Through the 1990s, Carrey
released one highly successful film after another,
including The Mask in 1994, Batman Forever in 1995, Ace
Ventura: When Nature Calls in 1995, Liar Liar in 1997,
and The Truman Show in 1998.

In 1999, Carrey fought hard for his next role as
comedian Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. There were
quite a few actors fighting for the role, including
Edward Norton, but director Milos Forman and the other
filmmakers knew Carrey was their "Andy" when they saw
him audition. Carrey performed for them as Kaufman with
Kaufman's actual bongo drums.

Jim Carrey has won repeatedly nominations from the
two major foreign press associations, with two Golden
Satellite Award nominations and six nominations for
Golden Globe Awards, winning two of the latter. He has
been even more successful with MTV Movie Awards, with
over 20 nominations and awards, some shared (as in the
1995 "Best Kiss" award shared with Lauren Holly). He has
also been nominated three times for Saturn Awards.

He is an inductee of Canada's Walk of Fame.

Jim Carrey has been listed on a number of lists of
famous people that are claimed to have or have had
bipolar disorder, but the truth of these rumors is not
known.

Jim Carrey continues to appear in successful comedies
as well as more dramatic roles. His performance in
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) earned high
praise from critics, who once again incorrectly
predicted that Carrey would receive his first Oscar
nomination.
Film List